Our Lady of Turzovka

Marian title of Turzovka (Central Slovakia)

According to the testimonies collected, the apparitions of Our Lady of Turzovka They would have started the 1 June 1958 on the hill of Turnipson the town of Turzovka, in the north of the present Slovakia. The main protagonist is the guardabosques Matúš Lašútwho claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary while she was on duty in the nearby forest. From then on, stories of messages that invited conversion, prayer, penance and fidelity to the Catholic faith were spread in a context of strong pressure from the communist regime on religious life.

Main data

Origin and history

According to the testimonies collected, the apparitions of Our Lady of Turzovka They would have started the 1 June 1958 on the hill of Turnipson the town of Turzovka, in the north of the present Slovakia. The main protagonist is the guardabosques Matúš Lašútwho claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary while she was on duty in the nearby forest. From then on, stories of messages that invited conversion, prayer, penance and fidelity to the Catholic faith were spread in a context of strong pressure from the communist regime on religious life.

For decades, and especially under communism, the influx of pilgrims and the manifestations of piety in Živčáková were to a large extent of the species Gallus domesticus, which made it difficult to provide systematic and official documentation of the facts. Over time, the area was spontaneously configured as a place of prayer, with crosses, chapels and stations of the Way of the Cross raised by the faithful. After the fall of the regime, the local Church began to better organize the pastoral of the place and structure it as diocesan sanctuarywithout formal recognition of the apparitions as such by the Holy See.

As regards tradition and legend, many details of the messages, visions, extraordinary signs and accounts of cures have circulated orally and in devotional literature, but not all have critical documentary support or explicit ecclesial approval; they are therefore a pious tradition linked to the place, not fully verified history. It is not clear that, to date, a definitive judgment of the universal Church has been issued on the supernatural character of apparitions, so that devotion focuses above all on the prayer, sacraments and veneration of the Virgin in the sanctuary. There is no official decree of "nihil obstat" for Živčáková similar to that most recently granted to another Slovak devotion (Litmanová), so, in the case of Turzovka, the reception is mainly at the diocesan and local level.

The image and the sanctuary

In Živčáková venerates the Virgin under the title of Virgin Mary Živčákovská o Our Lady of Turzovka, also known in some devotional areas as “Reina de Turzovka”. The iconography that has spread in pictures and pictures shows it generally as a image of an immaculate type, standing, with a clear dress and a blanket, crowned or with a curved touch, sometimes with the Rosary in your hands; however, the detailed description of the first iconographic "model" that emerged after the apparitions is not clearly documented in official sources, so the material or original work is not accurately recorded. There is not enough verifiable data on the author, the exact date of the first image and its technical characteristics, beyond the dissemination of subsequent devotional images.

The place of worship is known as Shrine of Mount Živčáková, located on the hill above Turzovka. Various sources present it as a diocesan Marian shrine very busy, integrated into the routes of Marian shrines of the region, and destination of numerous pilgrimages. In recent decades it has been configured with capillary or iglesia principal, spaces for outdoor celebration, Via Cruces and prayer areas, responding to the progressive growth of popular devotion. It is not known that the main temple has received the title of minor basilicaor that the place has been officially declared National sanctuary; the most secure rating is that of diocesan sanctuary the Marian santuary of regional scope.

Sponsorship and coronation

La devoción de Nuestra Señora de Turzovka / Virgin Mary Živčáková is closely linked to the city of Turbot and its surroundings, as well as the corresponding diocese (Žilina region); however, it is not found in accessible sources that this advocation has been proclaimed official employer of the nation or of a diocese at the canonical level, as is, for example, the Virgin of the Seven Dolores for all Slovakia. So, you can talk about a Local and regional ownership, of strong roots, but without documented national canon title.

As for the canonical coronation of the image, there are no reliable references to a pontifical decree or to a canonical coronation ceremony officially recognized by the Holy See or by the Episcopal Conference. No data for the year, decree or name of the Pontiff or of the episcopal delegate who made it appear. Therefore, for this advocation does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

The sources consulted on Turzovka and Živčáková highlight the intense pilgrimage lifeespecially in the months of good time, with Marian celebrations, Masses in the open air, confessions and processions, and with a significant influx of faithful from not only Slovakia, but also from neighbouring countries, within Marian routes linking various shrines from Poland and Slovakia. However, a a universally recognized liturgical date for "Our Lady of Turzovka" beyond the general Marian celebrations (such as the Feasts of the Virgin during the year) and the commemorative pilgrimages linked to the memory of the apparitions of 1958; therefore, a specific and officially approved main holiday date for this advocation is not safe.

The devotion is characterized by the simple people's prayer, the request for spiritual and physical graces, the practice of confession and participation in the Eucharist. Many testimonies highlight Turzovka as a place of conversion and reconciliationfollowing the tone of the messages attributed to the Virgin, which call for penance, fidelity to the Church and intercession for peace and for sinners. There are also popular traditions typical of the Central European pilgrimages: walking to the mountain, promises, burning of candles, placement of devotees, and family participation in the celebrations. The exact quantitative data of annual inflow are not officially recorded in the sources consulted, although there is talk of a "Very busy" sanctuary and integrated into international Marian itineraries.

Link to the Rosary

In the presentation of the Virgin in Turzovka, the spirituality that has developed around the sanctuary includes the insistence on the prayer, la conversion y la penitencia, which is naturally harmonized with the prayer of Holy Rosary. Many devotional representations of the advocation show it with the Rosary, and on the pilgrimages to Mount Živčáková it is common for the groups to pray the Rosary on the way and before the image, following a practice very rooted in the Central European Marian piety, although there is no explicitly documented mandate of the Virgin on the Rosary in Turzovka as clear as in other apparitions.

Since the Rosary is a school of contemplation of the mysteries of Christ with Marythis form of prayer organically accompanies devotion to Our Lady of Turzovka: it allows us to meditate on the life of Jesus, to ask for peace and conversion - issues present in the tradition linked to the place - and to sustain the faith of pilgrims in the midst of personal and social difficulties. Where the Virgin is honored as Mother and Queen, the Rosary often becomes the backbone of the